by Nick Thacker
Thirteen in all, she thought. They far outnumber our group .
Somewhere along the way Julie had accepted the reality that Ben would try, somehow, to come rescue her.
She knew he loved her, and she knew he’d do nearly anything for her, but she also knew that he wouldn’t let these men walk away without answering for their crimes. Ben would stop at nothing to get her back, but he would also do it just out of principle.
It was why she loved him, and it was why she thought it was going to kill him one day.
Back at Yellowstone, mere months ago, Ben had displayed an uncanny amount of resolve that left her stunned and speechless. After it was over, she wasn’t sure whether she should be praising his courage or berating his stupidity. He’d shrugged it off, and they never spoke of it again. Reporters and journalists lost interest when they realized they weren’t going to find the next reality TV star in Ben.
The man in the front of the line, their leader, came and stood in front of Amanda.
“It’s great to finally meet you,” he said. His voice was calm, low, and held no outward emotion. Julie listened, trying to memorize every aspect of his speech. It seemed oddly familiar, though she knew she’d never met the man before.
Amanda was visibly shaking, and her eyes were welling up once again.
“It’s okay, Dr. Meron,” the man said. He smiled, his crisp features softening. Julie almost believed him.
He gently reached behind Amanda’s head and untied the gag from her mouth. “If you feel like you need to scream, that’s fine. We are far enough away that your group will not be able to hear you.”
He waited, as if testing her. Amanda shook, then hung her head. She didn’t respond.
“That’s perfect. That attitude is going to keep you alive, Dr. Meron. ”
The man tossed the bandana to the ground, then walked over to Julie. She clenched her jaw, swallowing back the fear that had snuck up her throat, but she stared directly into the man’s eyes. He was young, possibly the same age as her, and he seemed completely at ease in the jungle. His hair seemed to float, combed and resting perfectly on his head, and he was clean-shaven.
He didn’t match the soldiers in appearance. The one who’d ripped her from behind Ben’s back was bearded, covered in dirt and sweat stains, and had a wild look in his eye. The other men had common characteristics, but she could see that there was an Asian man, three black men, and others she couldn’t exactly place. The man in front of her studied her.
“You and your boyfriend have caused my team a lot of grief,” the man said. Julie continued to breathe out of her nose, waiting for the man to remove her gag. “My name is Joshua Jefferson. I am here on orders from my father and his company to retrieve Dr. Meron, acquire whatever it is you all are searching for, and neutralize any extraneous variables. ”
He waited, as if anticipating a response from her, but she was still gagged. Finally, after nearly a minute of his scrutiny, he reached behind her head and untied the bandana. Julie spat it out, and looked back up at him. His hand lingered, resting just above her neck, and she tried to push away.
Instead, he pulled her closer. She could feel his breath, somehow cooler than the surrounding rainforest air. “Juliette,” he said, nearly whispering, “that means I am going to have to kill your friends. You know that, so there’s no sense dancing around the subject.”
She felt his grip tighten, his hand squeezing her just beneath her ears. She wanted to scream, but the air wouldn’t escape her lungs.
“I am a very reasonable man,” he continued. “But I am thorough . I have a commitment to my men, who are growing restless. We can expedite this little project quite a bit if you and Dr. Meron cooperate.”
She wanted to respond, to yell and spit in his face, but she felt weak. He was mesmerizing, somehow removing from her all ability to move or react .
“Juliette, where is the location of the city?”
She breathed, gulping in a burst of air.
“The city of El Dorado. Where is it?”
He tightened his grip on her neck. “I — don’t know,” she said. “Honestly. We —“
“We know you don’t know exactly ,” he said. “That much is abundantly clear. Let me clarify: what is your destination? The final point you are trying to reach?”
Julie was silent.
“Juliette,” he said. “You understand what’s about to happen if you don’t answer my question, don’t you?”
He waited for her to respond. She nodded.
“Good. Dr. Meron seems to be very interested in working with me and my team.” He glanced over at Amanda, and Julie could see that Amanda’s head was still bowed, unmoving. “Do yourself a favor and be the one who decides to contribute to this mission. You and I both know we need Dr. Meron, so she is safe for now.”
Julie couldn’t help but consider what he had said. Why am I still alive ? She wondered. What is he going to use me for ? He would need Amanda to help explain whatever they’re going to find in the city, if they find it. But her? What good could Julie do?
“Juliette,” the man said. She realized she was looking off into the distance, and her eyes snapped back toward Joshua. “I have another question for you; maybe you can answer this one first.”
She waited, feeling the man’s fingers play at the hair on the back of her neck. It made her shudder.
“Your boyfriend — Harvey? What is he looking for?”
Julie frowned, then saw Amanda whip her head around and stare at both of them .
Joshua Jefferson laughed. “You don’t think I believe he is out here, in the middle of the rainforest, looking for an ancient city of gold, do you?”
Julie flicked her eyes back and forth, not sure where he was taking this line of questioning. She hesitated, waiting for him to speak again.
“It’s a simple question, Juliette,” he said. “What is he looking for?”
Julie tried to find a way out, a way to dodge the question. But she felt bound, like her wrists. Tied up with this man in the center of the jungle, coerced into giving him what he wanted.
Suddenly she realized the answer to the previous riddle. Why am I still alive ? Why didn’t the team of mercenaries just kill me in the atrium ? As she fumbled around in her mind for a good answer to the man’s last question, the answer to her previous questions fell out of some subconscious space deep within her.
He wants Ben . I’m his bargaining chip .
She knew immediately that this man would not kill her. At least not before he had Ben.
“Drache Global,” she said, her voice wavering slightly. The words came out before she even realized she was going to tell him. But her moment of clarity provided her with another answer: this man already knew what Ben was looking for in the jungle, and he knew it was not a lost city. Ben was no more interested in ancient myths and mysteries then these men. They all wanted something else, something more. Joshua’s team was trying to secure whatever Amanda’s research was pointing them toward; the fact that it might exist inside an ancient, long-lost city, was just a bonus.
Ben didn’t care what was in the city, or where it was located, or what they might find when they got there. He was interested only because Julie was interested, but the city was a simple stopping point along his larger journey: he wanted to find the company.
Joshua smirked. “I haven’t heard it called that in quite some time,” he said.
Julie frowned.
“Yes, that’s one of its names,” Joshua said. “Drache Global is a pharmaceutical company, and operates as the main research and development branch for the rest of the organization.”
“Dragonstone? Or Drage Medisinsk?”
Joshua took a step back. He looked up at Julie, and she could see him studying her. Analyzing her. “Again, those are branches from the main trunk of the organization. But I can see you’ve done your research. How did you hear those names?”
Julie knew she should not underestimate the man, but she wanted to keep h
im talking as long as possible, to buy herself time. “Ben heard them, a few months ago, when your organization tried to poison the entire country.”
Joshua cocked his head sideways a bit, but Julie couldn’t tell if he was frowning or still studying her. He didn’t react at first, and she wondered if he had even heard her.
“Why did they do it, Joshua? Why go through all that trouble? To teach us all a lesson?”
Finally, Joshua shook his head. “I advised them against that course of action,” he said. “But they kept saying it wasn’t about the virus, and it wasn’t about the bombs. Everyone is always so singularly focused on what’s directly in front of them that they can’t see what’s behind them. Or what’s standing right next to them.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about misdirection, Juliette. When one hand is holding something that is captivating the attention of the entire nation, the other hand is doing something behind its back.”
“I’ve heard that excuse before,” Julie said. “Even if it made sense, it’s not the truth. What is the truth?”
Something in the way Julie said the words set Joshua off. He rushed forward, his face again inches from hers. She thought she could see the gentle fading of red disappearing just beneath his skin. Whatever rage he had felt in that moment was gone a second later.
“The truth is exactly what I’m trying to understand,” Joshua said. “They’ve been hiding things from me as well. My own father has been hiding things from me. It’s how they operate; how they’ve always done business. Pay what you need to the people you need, but only give them enough information to get the job done. I’ve seen so many of my own men discarded and tossed aside by the Company.”
He looked away, and Julie was suddenly struck with the realization that he had shared more than he had intended. His emotions must have been getting the best of him, and he poured out more information then he’d wanted to. He cleared his throat, then seemed to visibly loosen, shaking out his muscles and tense posture and replacing it with something that looked like a nervous bodybuilder trying to appear relaxed.
Julie looked around at the rest of the men standing near the trees, surrounding her and Amanda. They stood ramrod straight, each of them fully attuned to the forest and its noises, waiting for any sign of impending attack, from man or beast. They were all dressed the same way as Joshua, but he was the youngest of the group and the only one who had spoken to her so far. She didn’t understand their hierarchy, or how Joshua had assumed command of this contingent, but it didn’t matter. He was the one she needed to talk to; he was the one she needed to convince.
“Joshua, what do you want from me and Amanda?”
He thought about this a moment, then answered. “You already know what I want from you. It’s what the company wants me to do with you. Find whatever it is you were looking for, ensure Dr. Meron’s cooperation, and remove any possibilities that someone might talk.”
Julie summoned whatever remaining courage she could find, and stared down the man standing in front of her. “Then what are you waiting for?”
Joshua’s voice dropped to a whisper, and she had to strain to hear. “ I needed to know for myself, but I think what I’ve been suspecting is true.” He paused, looking around to make sure his men were still at their posts, not focusing on his conversation. He was talking so quietly now there was no way any of them — or Amanda — could hear. “Juliette, Ben and I are looking for the same thing.”
Chapter 44
“I’m going to ask you one more time,” Reggie said. “What are you doing out here? Why not just kill us all when you had the chance?”
Reggie walked behind Rhett, pushing him along when the kid fell behind or veered off course. The kid hadn’t spoken a word since Reggie returned, but Reggie knew he could outlast him. Rhett’s hands were tied behind his back, the rope then tightened around his waist to form a sort of belt that further secured his hands. Ben walked in front with Archie and Paulinho, and the small Brazilian boat hand, Carlo, followed directly behind Reggie. They were traveling in the direction that Reggie had pointed them, aided by a hand-drawn map. After losing the maps in the river, Archie Quinones and Reggie had taken a few minutes to recreate on some scraps of paper — to the best of their ability — the maps, as well as the intersecting lines they’d discovered. Between Archie’s knowledge of the area and his own navigational skills, Reggie thought they could remain pointed toward their destination.
He hoped.
He’d never ventured this far into the Amazon before, and not many outsiders had. Those who had were typically on an exploratory mission, usually funded by a large organization or government, and they had the resources to support them. Still, large groups of people went missing every year in the Amazon Basin, due to high flooding, predators, or hostile natives. Others simply got lost .
Reggie wanted to make sure he and his group made it out of the jungle safely, but even with his skill set he knew it was a tall order. They’d soon be battling not just human and animal predators, but the elements as well. Dehydration could set in quicker without a constant supply of fresh, pure drinking water, and food would prove to be more and more difficult to obtain as the rations of MREs and coca leaves they carried in the packs wore thin.
On top of that, Julie and Amanda were gone, taken by the mercenaries. He’d wanted to scream when he found out, but he forced himself to push the emotion back and allow the logical side of his person to take over once more. He had decided they needed to move forward and accomplish their mission, allowing the mercenaries to meet up with them later. It was a difficult call to make, considering he now had no control over Amanda’s and Julie’s survival.
He was impressed with Ben’s ability to see his point of view, as well. Ben, unlike Reggie, had skin in this game. He and Julie had arrived here together, and Ben would do whatever he could within his power to make sure they left that way. To agree with Reggie that their best possible course of action was to push forward and attempt to find the lost city would not have been an easy decision to make.
He stepped up closer to Rhett and pressed his fist between his shoulder blades. “You ignoring me now?”
“What do you want to know?” Rhett whirled around and faced Reggie, stopping short. “You’re just trying to get me to talk, you don’t actually need any information from me.”
Reggie grinned. “Fine. You’re right. But I think after the boat incident, you owe us at least one.”
“Shoot.”
“Same thing I asked a minute ago,” Reggie said. “Why not just kill us all when you had the chance? Back at the cabin, or on the boat? Hell, why not just crash the plane? Definitely no survivors that way.”
“That wasn’t my mission,” Rhett said .
Reggie let out a one syllable laugh. “Your mission ? How old are you, boy? 25?”
Rhett’s face reddened, but to his credit he did not let the anger affect him more than that. “I’m 27, just out of law school. And yes, this is my mission . The company sent me here, to make sure the others get the job done. You’ve already underestimated me three times on this trip; what exactly makes you think I am unqualified?”
Reggie chewed on an imaginary piece of tobacco as he looked the young man up and down. Then, with one fluid motion, he swung his right foot around behind Rhett’s left knee. He carried through the movement, lifting Rhett completely off the ground for a second as his legs fell out from beneath him. Rhett hit the ground hard on his back, his hands and rear end taking the brunt of the blow. He yelped in pain, and rolled sideways, anticipating further attack.
Reggie put his right foot back down on the ground and continued fake-chewing. He laughed, then walked over, grabbed Rhett by the collar of his shirt and yanked him to his feet. There was a thick layer of dirt caked on the side of Rhett’s face, and the young man wore a sneer that almost made Reggie pause.
“That is why I think you’re unqualified. What kind of company are you working for, an
yway? They sent you ?”
Rhett breathed heavy gulps of air as he tried to calm himself down. The sneer never left his face.
Reggie cocked his head sideways, and he noticed Ben and Archie, Paulinho just behind, walking over to listen.
“Their leader’s name is Joshua,” Rhett said. “And he’s not going to stop. None of it matters now. They’re not going to let any of us go, including me. Even if — somehow — this doesn’t work, they’ll send another group. And another. They won’t stop. You ought to just kill me now.”
“You’re resilient, kid,” Reggie said. He nodded toward Ben. “I’m actually surprised Ben didn’t already do that. Besides, what’s the fun in that? ”
Ben walked over and roughly pulled Rhett around so they were face-to-face. “You’re lucky I don’t just kill you right now.”
Reggie held up a hand. “Easy, Ben. Let’s make sure he’s telling the truth first.”
“Why would I lie to you about that? Don’t you understand what’s going on? There’s nothing left for you here. They have the girl, they know where to go, they’re not going to stop until it’s finished.”
“Then why send you?” Ben asked.
“They’re thorough, the company. They don’t stop until the job is done, and when it makes most sense, they’ll opt for redundancy over saving resources.”
“And their leader? Joshua?” Reggie asked. “Is he as… qualified as you?”
Rhett just smiled, his eyes remaining cold and locked on Ben.
Reggie pushed Rhett away, causing him to stumble before catching his balance and walking forward into the trees. Paulinho and Archie were still in front, but Ben held back next to Reggie. Carlo, ever the watchful sentinel, silently began walking at the back of the line when the group continued.
Keeping his voice low, Reggie turned to Ben. “What are you thinking?”
“I should have killed him when I had the chance,” Ben said.
Reggie shook his head. “Push that aside for now, Ben. There’s more at stake here. This ‘company,’ whoever they are, and whatever they’re after, is obviously willing to spend a lot of money to accomplish their goal. And it seems like there may be some sort of distrust in the organization. Why else would they send two teams?”
